For years, electric and hydrogen engines have led the race towards cleaner mobility. They represent the avant -garde of sustainable vehicles, moving away from internal combustion engines. However, a new technology bursts strongly: an engine driven by liquid nitrogen, with an expansion capacity 700 times higher. This advance could redefine the future of energy on wheels.
Electric and hydrogen motors: advances with limits
Electric vehicles have managed to position themselves as the most immediate alternative to the traditional engine. Its operation, based on rechargeable batteries, allows you to reduce emissions to zero during use. However, battery recycling, limited autonomy and recharge time remain pending challenges.
On the other hand, hydrogen vehicles represent a more ambitious solution: instead of storing electricity, they generate it internally through a fuel pile that transforms hydrogen into energy, releasing only water vapor.
But this process, although clean, faces technical and economic obstacles: the obtaining and storage of hydrogen are extremely expensive, and its manipulation requires very strict safety and cooling conditions.
Nitrogen enters the scene with a radical proposal
Faced with these limitations, a London -based company works on an alternative that promises to overcome both models. Its nitrogen engine is based on a simple but powerful principle: thermal expansion. Liquid nitrogen, when passing to a gaseous state, expands more than 700 times. This force can be used to generate mechanical movement similar to a combustion engine, but without polluting gases.
This type of engine has already been put to the test in functional prototypes, and the preliminary results are promising. It does not need complex supply systems or produces greenhouse gases. The by -products of its combustion are clean air: an oxygen and nitrogen mix, totally carbon free.
The perfect fuel?
The greatest advantage of nitrogen, in addition to its power, is its abundance. It is the most common gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, which makes it an accessible and economical source. Unlike hydrogen, it does not require expensive electrolysis processes or extreme storage conditions. Its manipulation is simpler and safer, which facilitates large -scale distribution logistics.
This potential has led to several automotive laboratories and engineering being interested in nitrogen as a viable future for clean transport, capable of combining the best in the electric world with the power of traditional combustion, but without its ecological disadvantages.
Are we facing the definitive replacement?
Although it is still in the test phase, nitrogen -based technology could accelerate a deep change in the automotive industry. If you manage to overcome the scalability barriers, it could become the most logical option to replace both electric and hydrogen vehicles, which still drag high costs and technical limitations.
The next few years will be crucial to validate this advance, but if nitrogen engines meet their promise, we could be witnessing the birth of a new energy revolution: clean, powerful and suitable for all pockets.
